News - AllGov860500http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/shake-up-at-fox-news?news=860500Unusual NewsShake-Up at Fox News<p>
Responding to stagnating ratings and changing demographics, Fox News has announced several changes to its lineup. The morning show &ldquo;Fox and Friends&rdquo; will now be renamed &ldquo;Trump and Friends.&rdquo; Sean Hannity&rsquo;s show, previously known as &ldquo;Hannity,&rdquo; will be renamed &ldquo;Fantasy.&rdquo; Fox has purchased the rights from ABC of the game show &ldquo;To Tell the Truth&rdquo; and reformatted the series. Hosted by former White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders and former presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway, contestants will now compete by trying to keep a straight face while verbalizing increasingly absurd lies. Finally, Tucker Carlson, Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham will host a new show called &ldquo;Clickbait&rdquo; in which they will compete to see whose outrageous statements can earn the most mentions by non-Fox News media.</p>
<p align="right">
-David Wallechinsky</p>
<p align="right">
(satire)</p>
2019-01-02T14:00:06-08:00860357http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/suicide-more-common-in-high-altitude-counties-171107?news=860357Unusual NewsSuicide More Common in High-Altitude Counties<script type="text/javascript" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85716/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" async="async"></script>
<p>
By Hoehun Ha, Auburn University at Montgomery, The Conversation</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Suicide is <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr65/nvsr65_05.pdf">one of the top 10 causes of death</a> (pdf) in the U.S. In the next 20 years, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030442">it&rsquo;s expected</a> to cause more than 2 million deaths per year worldwide, ranking 14th in the world as a cause of death.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
There are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.162.11.2116">many factors</a> known to affect an individual&rsquo;s risk for suicide. For example, people who are older, male, white, divorced, low-income, isolated or who abuse substances are all at higher risk. Psychiatric illness, mood disorders and lack of social support are also <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ham.2010.1058">recognized risk factors</a>.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Several studies have demonstrated geographic variations in suicide patterns in the U.S., with higher suicide rates in western states. Our ongoing research expands on those findings, showing that Americans who live in higher-altitude counties are at a higher risk for suicide.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<strong>Altitude and health</strong></p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Increased elevation has been known to have a protective relationship with certain medical illnesses. For example, people who live at higher altitudes are somewhat less likely to die from <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15767379">coronary artery disease</a> or <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19635973">stroke</a>. But increased elevation may also enhance psychological problems, such as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12219335">panic attacks</a>.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Previous studies have reported a significant association between suicide and altitude. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/246149045_Suicide_Rates_Strongly_Correlate_with_Altitude_A_Study_of_3060_US_Counties">One study</a> showed a strong positive relationship between average state altitude and suicide rate. For example, in Utah, the average geographic altitude is about 6,000 feet, and the rate of suicide is 70 percent higher than average.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20843869">Another, similar study</a> showed that higher-altitude states had significantly higher suicide rates than lower-altitude states. Similar findings were observed for both <a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/86-firearm-deaths-a-day-in-us-60-are-suicides-141220?news=855151">firearm-related</a> and nonfirearm-related suicides.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
These studies suggest altitude is a significant risk factor for depressive symptoms and suicide. However, average state altitude doesn&rsquo;t provide a very close look at the relationship between suicide and altitude. Altitude could vary widely across the state, so the average may not properly represent the elevation for each place.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<strong>Risk across the US</strong></p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
As part of an ongoing project, our lab has examined all 3,064 contiguous U.S. counties with average county elevation to access whether there is a significant association between suicide and altitude.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Looking at average altitude for county, rather than center of county or state, would better represent the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3114154/">elevation for each place</a>. We calculated the average elevation based on the total number of 30-meter by 30-meter grids in each county.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
We looked at suicide data from the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/index.htm">National Center for Health Statistics</a> for every U.S. county between 2008 and 2014. Calculations for average county latitude came from the <a href="https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/100-meter-resolution-elevation-of-the-conterminous-united-states-direct-download">U.S. Geologic Survey</a>. Alaska and Hawaii were not included in our analysis, because digital altitude information was not fully available.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
We found that, for every increase of 100 meters in altitude, suicide rates increase by 0.4 per 100,000.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Counties with higher-than-average suicide rates also tended to have a lower percent of African-American residents, a higher percent of people 65 years or older, a higher percent of smokers and lower scores for family and social support.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<strong>Linking altitude and suicide</strong></p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Our findings suggest a need for further investigation into the extent by which altitude may serve as a triggering factor for suicide. This could have major implications in how medical professionals understand the causes of suicide.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
We controlled for multiple socioeconomic, demographic and clinical factors, such as unemployment rate and the ratio of population to primary care physicians. This did not change our findings. In other words, this novel finding is not explained by county differences in socioeconomic and demographic factors.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Why might counties at higher altitudes &ndash; primarily observed in the western region of the country &ndash; be more likely to have higher suicide rates? One reasonable explanation could be the effects of hypoxia, or a deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching the tissues. This can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3872491/">influence the body&rsquo;s metabolism of serotonin</a>, one of the neurotransmitters related to aggressive behavior and suicide. Several studies suggest that chronic hypoxia increases <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19337207">mood disturbances</a>, especially in patients with emotional instability.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
However, without further clinical study, it is difficult to pin down exactly what biological mechanism is affected by altitude.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/rural-towns-lead-increase-in-us-suicide-rate-151107?news=857800">Rural Towns Lead Increase in U.S. Suicide Rate</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff and Steve Straehley, AllGov)</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/dramatic-rise-in-suicide-rate-for-americans-40-64-but-not-for-other-age-groups-150302?news=855818">Dramatic Rise in Suicide Rate for Americans 40-64, but not for other Age Groups</a> (by Steve Straehley, AllGov)</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/more-americans-now-die-from-suicide-than-from-auto-accidents-130505?news=849933">More Americans Now Die from Suicide than from Auto Accidents</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
2017-11-07T12:55:06-08:00860310http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/alabama-candidate-claimed-endorsement-of-dead-person-170920?news=860310Unusual NewsAlabama Candidate Claimed Endorsement of Dead Person<p>
By Daniel Jackson, Courthouse News Service</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
(CN) &mdash; In Alabama&rsquo;s runoff election for the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat, Luther Strange may have the crowning endorsement of President Donald Trump, but Roy Moore seemed to have support from beyond the grave.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
On Monday night, Moore&rsquo;s campaign deleted an endorsement on its <a href="https://www.roymoore.org/Endorsements/">website</a> from Phyllis Schlafly, a conservative activist known for pushing the GOP to the right on social issues.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Schlafly presented her organization, the <a href="http://eagleforum.org/">Eagle Forum</a>, as the opposite of the women&rsquo;s liberation movement of the 70s.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
While the former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court thinks highly of Schlafly &ndash; Moore told the Eagle Forum in a 2015 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec4niJI-mCw">speech</a> that she was his hero &ndash; she died last year at the age of 92.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Her death came before Trump won the presidency, before he nominated then-U.S. Sen. <a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/attorney-general-of-the-united-states-who-is-jeff-sessions-161129?news=859838">Jeff Sessions</a> to be his attorney general, and before the need for the primary in Alabama ever arose due to Sessions&rsquo; vacant Senate seat.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
It&rsquo;s another moment in a <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/alabama-runoff-senate-seat-proxy-battle-gops-future/">race</a> between two candidates that are ideologically close and who have relied on backing and endorsements outside of Alabama to convince Republican voters that they best represent the stylistic direction of the GOP.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
According to an <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170917130642/https:/www.roymoore.org/Endorsements/">archived screenshot</a> of Moore&rsquo;s website taken on Sunday, the endorsement came from an inference of another Moore endorser: Ed Martin, president of the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Phyllis-Schlafly-Center/348525582190824">Phyllis Schlafly Center</a>.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Among conservative circles, Martin isn&rsquo;t without controversy.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Before she died, Schlafly named Martin as her successor, and he became president of the Eagle Forum. Together, they wrote Schlafly&rsquo;s last book, &ldquo;The Conservative Case for Trump.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But on Oct. 20, 2016, a circuit court judge in Madison County, Ill., suspended Martin from his office, finding that he violated his duties to the organization.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
It was part of a fight over Schlafly&rsquo;s legacy between Martin, Schlafly&rsquo;s family and other members of the Eagle Forum who supported then-presidential candidate Ted Cruz, according to a <em>St. Louis Post-Dispatch</em> <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/months-after-her-death-phyllis-schlafly-s-followers-and-family/article_512b5dff-2a73-5572-b78b-0a36ba3de306.html">report</a>.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In response, Martin started a new organization, <a href="http://www.pseagles.com/Phyllis_Schlafly_Eagles">Phyllis Schlafly&rsquo;s Eagles</a>.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Strange &mdash; Alabama&rsquo;s former attorney general who was appointed to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Sessions until a permanent replacement could be chosen &ndash; ran a better organized campaign with more funding than Moore in the Alabama primary, while Moore touted his small army of endorsements throughout the campaign.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Icons in conservative media such as Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity sided with Moore, as did politicians like Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Even former University of Alabama running back Siran Stacy and Rod Martin, co-founder of <a href="https://www.paypal.com/us/home">PayPal</a>, supported the former judge&rsquo;s campaign.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But on Friday, on the last lap of the race before voters head to the polls Sept. 26, the Strange campaign will leverage its biggest endorsement at a scheduled &ldquo;Make America Great Again&rdquo; rally featuring President Trump.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The rally comes after Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/909191177810915328">tweeted</a> Saturday, &ldquo;I will be in Huntsville, Alabama, on Saturday night to support Luther Strange for Senate. &lsquo;Big Luther&rsquo; is a great guy who gets things done!&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/alabama-judge-removed-againthis-time-for-defying-same-sex-marriage-ruling-161001?news=859544">Alabama Judge Removed Again&mdash;This Time for Defying Same-Sex Marriage Ruling</a> (by Kim Chandler, Associated Press)</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/top-three-republican-leaders-in-three-branches-of-alabama-government-embroiled-in-scandal-or-wrongdoing-160512?news=858800">Top Three Republican Leaders in Three Branches of Alabama Government Embroiled in Scandal or Wrongdoing</a> (by Jay Reeves, Associated Press)</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/states-where-politicians-have-vowed-to-continue-fighting-same-sex-marriage-150630?news=856846">States where Politicians have Vowed to Continue Fighting Same-Sex Marriage</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
2017-09-20T11:50:06-07:00860245http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/should-panhandlers-be-issued-licenses-170713?news=860245Unusual NewsShould Panhandlers be Issued Licenses?<script type="text/javascript" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/80297/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" async="async"></script>
<p>
By Brendan O&#39;Flaherty, Columbia University, and Gwendolyn Dordick, City University of New York, The Conversation</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio recently said on a radio show that he would like to ban panhandling but wouldn&rsquo;t try because the <a href="http://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2017/07/07/de-blasio-blames-rising-homelessness-on-not-even-homeless-panhandlers-113264">courts wouldn&rsquo;t allow it</a>. Many panhandlers &ldquo;are not particularly in need and just are finding a way to get some easy money and that does frustrate me,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
We &ndash; a sociologist and an economist based in New York City &ndash; have studied panhandling in downtown Manhattan for several years. We think that de Blasio and other leaders who want to root out panhandling can use smarter ways to quell local fears of being scammed while ensuring that the poor are able to solicit alms.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
We have looked at where panhandlers work and how their numbers change over time. We have also talked to many panhandlers at length. This kind of scholarship is rare, so policymakers in the Big Apple and in other communities may want to check out our findings.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<strong>Legal trouble</strong></p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
As the proportion of major American cities banning panhandling shot up to 27 percent from 19 percent <a href="https://www.nlchp.org/documents/Housing-Not-Handcuffs">between 2006 and 2016</a>, opponents increasingly sued to overturn these restrictions.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
A series of court rulings affirming the constitutional right to panhandle in places like <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/tampa-panhandling-ban-in-downtown-and-ybor-city-ruled-unconstitutional/2288662">Tampa, Florida</a> and <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/kentucky/articles/2017-02-16/right-to-beg-kentucky-court-strikes-down-panhandling-law">Frankfort, Kentucky</a> bode badly for these bans.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But curbside solicitations should &ndash; at least theoretically &ndash; command broad enough support to not require a judicial assist. Egalitarians want to transfer wealth from the rich to the poor. Libertarians prefer voluntary transactions that circumvent bureaucracy. Religions of all kinds tell believers to give alms.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<strong>When more people give</strong></p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
One aspect of panhandling we have researched is how it responds to the flow of donations. Do more people do it, in other words, when the number of passersby grows?</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Not really, it appears.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
To figure this out, we monitored the rate of panhandling in downtown Manhattan &ndash; a square mile that includes Wall Street, Ground Zero and the surrounding areas &ndash; from 2014 to 2015. During this period, One World Trade Center opened near the former site of the twin towers, much of Ground Zero was restored and <a href="http://www.downtownny.com/research-statistics">tourism surged</a>. But the number of panhandlers increased very little.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Even when we saw sidewalk traffic spike, we saw only a <a href="https://doi.org/10.7916/D8028Z7G">modest uptick</a> in the total number of hours people spent panhandling. That suggests that giving to panhandlers does not tend to increase the frequency of solicitations.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
We also counted the number of people who panhandle at a time in downtown Manhattan. Teaming up with some of our students, we found an average of eight to 10 panhandlers actively asking for donations at any given time during peak summer hours. Despite de Blasio&rsquo;s concerns, that&rsquo;s not a lot, considering that this small area generates as much economic activity as the <a href="http://eadiv.state.wy.us/i&amp;e/Profile15.htm">state of Wyoming</a> and includes some of the world&rsquo;s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-wall-street-bankers-make-2016-8">richest pedestrians</a>.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Given that it&rsquo;s hard to think of a better place to panhandle, we were surprised to find so few people doing it. One reason why these numbers may seem low is that they don&rsquo;t include the majority of homeless people we found because they weren&rsquo;t panhandling.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<strong>Problems and regulation</strong></p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Most governments that crack down on panhandling do it out of concern that it will bother passersby who don&rsquo;t want to give. We studied this problem to see what could be done.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The math is pretty simple: The greater the ratio of pedestrians who want to give to pedestrians who don&rsquo;t, the smaller this problem is.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
That gave rise to our core idea about what it takes to regulate panhandling intelligently. That is: Encourage what we call &ldquo;successful panhandling,&rdquo; which brings together willing donors and willing solicitors; and discourage &ldquo;unsuccessful panhandling,&rdquo; which targets people who don&rsquo;t even want to see solicitations, let alone give money to someone asking for help on the sidewalk.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
What&rsquo;s wrong with most anti-panhandling ordinances is that they try to ban or discourage both kinds instead of promoting the former and discouraging the latter.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<strong>Panhandling credentials</strong></p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The policies we think will work best would spread information about panhandlers, particularly through the issuance of credentials. The basic problem now is that potential donors know very little if anything about the panhandlers they encounter. That makes them reluctant to give.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Case in point: Almost any time we talked to a colleague or friend about our panhandling research, the first topic that came up was scams &ndash; they either declared that all panhandlers were scam artists or asked us what we had learned about how many were scam artists. But none of the panhandlers we encountered were faking their poverty. And contrary to what de Blasio said, they were putting in long hours and weren&rsquo;t raking in &ldquo;easy money.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
People in some professions &ndash; <a href="https://certification.acsm.org/acsm-certified-personal-trainer">personal trainers</a> and <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/acupuncture/what-credentials-should-acupuncturist-have">acupuncturists</a>, for instance &ndash; have solved similar problems by establishing credentials. As we proposed in a <a href="https://doi.org/10.7916/D8QJ7PZJ">recent paper</a>, we believe the same approach might reduce concerns about panhandling, in turn reducing efforts to restrict or ban the practice.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
How might this work?</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Nonprofits that aid low-income people, churches, <a href="https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/business-improvement-districts-support-small-business">business-improvement districts</a> and other groups could issue (and rescind) panhandling credentials. Authorized panhandlers could wear a special button, hat or other item to convey their status.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
These worn items would include ID numbers that potential donors could verify, and a system could be established to report counterfeits. These ID numbers might also make way for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jun/04/sweden-cashless-society-cards-phone-apps-leading-europe">cashless panhandling</a>, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-14/in-cashless-sweden-even-god-now-takes-collection-via-an-app">as Sweden now allows</a>, and they might also assist in reporting and discouraging &ldquo;<a href="http://www.newschannel5.com/news/man-charged-with-aggressive-panhandling-in-nashville">aggressive panhandling</a>.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
We&rsquo;d welcome credentialing experiments in Manhattan and elsewhere in the U.S. People who want to give donations and people who need to ask for them deserve a better chance of finding each other.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/give-and-take-credentials-could-aid-panhandling-80297">Give and Take: Credentials Could Aid Panhandling</a> (by Brendan O&#39;Flaherty, Columbia University, and Gwendolyn Dordick, City University of New York, The Conversation)</p>
<p>
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Danny/Downloads/policypaper022617final%20(1).pdf">Policy for Panhandling: How to Encourage Good Panhandling and Discourage Bad</a> (by Gwendolyn Dordick, Brendan O&rsquo;Flaherty, Jakob Brounstein and Srishti Sinha) (pdf)</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/us-cities-passing-more-laws-to-make-homelessness-a-crime-161118?news=859783">U.S. Cities Passing More Laws to Make Homelessness a Crime</a> (by Cathy Bussewitz and Colleen Slevin, Associated Press)</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/hud-threatens-to-withhold-aid-money-to-cities-that-criminalize-homelessness-150929?news=857524">HUD Threatens to Withhold Aid Money to Cities that Criminalize Homelessness</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff and Danny Biederman, AllGov)</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/58-california-cities-have-anti-homeless-laws-150223?news=855748">58 California Cities Have Anti-Homeless Laws</a> (by Ken Broder, AllGov)</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/federal-judge-knocks-out-arizona-citys-anti-panhandling-law-131019?news=851434">Federal Judge Knocks Out Arizona City&rsquo;s Anti-Panhandling Law</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
2017-07-13T11:55:06-07:00860163http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/illegal-to-talk-about-yellow-traffic-lights-in-oregon-170430?news=860163Unusual NewsIllegal to Talk about Yellow Traffic Lights in Oregon<p>
By Karina Brown, Courthouse News Service</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) &ndash; An Oregon resident trained in engineering in <a href="http://www.allgov.com/nations?nationID=3576">Sweden</a> says he&rsquo;s developed a safer method for timing traffic lights, and the state engineering board fined him for talking about it.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Mats Jarlstrom says Oregon laws make it illegal for anyone who isn&rsquo;t a licensed engineer to criticize the state&rsquo;s methods for timing traffic lights. Jarlstrom calls that an unconstitutional prohibition on free speech.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, Jarlstrom claims Oregon&rsquo;s Professional Engineer Registration Act illegally restricts discussion of public engineering projects to state-licensed engineers and creates a &ldquo;government-run monopoly on engineering concepts.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The act, and the board that enforces it, keep people from discussing the safety and fairness of traffic lights and the formulas engineers use to coordinate their timing, Jarlstrom claims.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.oregon.gov/osbeels/Pages/index.aspx">Oregon State Board of Examiners for Engineering and Land Surveying</a> fined Jarlstrom after finding his public discussion of the formula for traffic-light timing was &ldquo;clearly not protected speech.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But Jarlstrom says his critique is exactly the kind of speech protected by the First Amendment.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Jarlstrom was born in Sweden, where he graduated with the equivalent of a bachelor&rsquo;s degree in electrical engineering. He says he worked in technical fields with the Swedish Air Force and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxor_AB">Luxor Electronics</a> before moving to Beaverton, Oregon, 20 years ago.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In 2013, Jarlstrom&rsquo;s wife got a traffic ticket after a city camera recorded her running a red light. That sparked Jarlstrom&rsquo;s fascination with the mathematical formulas behind the timing of traffic lights. Jarlstrom says he dedicated his free time to researching the formulas before concluding they were unsafe and resulted in unfair traffic tickets.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The next year, Jarlstrom <a href="http://jarlstrom.com/PDF/Jarlstrom%20v.%20City%20of%20Beaverton%20Complaint.pdf">sued</a> (pdf) Beaverton, claiming the Portland suburb <a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/where-is-the-money-going/revenue-opportunity-shortening-yellow-traffic-lights-121123?news=846282">programmed its yellow lights to be so brief</a> that drivers didn&rsquo;t have time to make it through an intersection before the lights turned red. Jarlstrom claimed the lights put drivers in danger of wrecks and said extending the length of yellow lights would dramatically reduce the number of tickets the city issued for running red lights.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
U.S. District Judge Michael Simon <a href="http://www.jarlstrom.com/PDF/20140826203409.pdf">tossed</a> (pdf) that lawsuit in October 2014, after U.S. Magistrate Judge John Acosta found Jarlstrom didn&rsquo;t show that he faced imminent harm from the city&rsquo;s policy on yellow light length.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Any driver entering an intersection under a yellow light is already breaking the law, Acosta reasoned, because Oregon is one of a handful of states that effectively treats a yellow light as a signal to stop rather than a warning that the light will soon turn red.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Three months after the ruling, the state Board of Examiners for Engineering and Land Surveying launched a two-year investigation of Jarlstrom, ultimately issuing a $500 fine for publicly critiquing the mathematical formulas behind traffic light cameras without an engineering license, according to the complaint.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
On April 25, Jarlstrom filed a new <a href="http://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ECF-1-Complaint-1.pdf">federal lawsuit</a> (pdf). This time, he says the board not only regulates professional engineers, it also &ldquo;restricts and punishes ordinary people for their most basic acts of civic engagement and political speech.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
A representative for the board declined to comment on the lawsuit.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In the lawsuit, Jarlstrom describes his crusade to lengthen the duration of yellow lights, saying he approached local and national news outlets, the <a href="http://ncees.org/">National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying</a> and even Dr. Alexei Maradudin, one of the physicists who in 1959 helped develop the formula for traffic-light timing that is still used today. Jarlstrom says he told them all that he believed the formula was dangerously flawed. Specifically, he said, the formula does not allow enough time for a driver to begin a right turn at the last moment of a green light and complete it before the light turns red.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Jarlstrom says he sent the groups copies of the new formula he had developed and got good reviews from a presentation he gave at the 2016 meeting of the <a href="http://www.ite.org/">Institute of Transportation Engineers</a>.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
He says he is almost finished writing a paper about his theories for the <em>Institute of Transportation Engineers Journal</em>, but can&rsquo;t publish it because the board is illegally restricting his free speech.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Jarlstrom says he should be able to call himself an engineer in the journal&rsquo;s biographical blurb and promotional materials without fearing another investigation and more fines.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
His lawyer, Sam Gedge with the <a href="http://ij.org/">Institute for Justice</a> in Arlington, Virginia, said in an interview that while the state may have the right to regulate who practices engineering, it doesn&rsquo;t get to regulate the discussion of public safety.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;All Mats wants to do is talk,&rdquo; Gedge said. &ldquo;The state of Oregon investigated him for nearly two years and fined him for doing that. And that raises profound legal concerns. It&rsquo;s unconstitutional. You don&rsquo;t need a license to talk about the Supreme Court, for example. You don&rsquo;t need a license to run a blog and you don&rsquo;t need to be a licensed engineer to talk about traffic lights.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;The government doesn&rsquo;t have any legitimate interest in deciding who gets to talk about anything,&rdquo; Gedge added. &ldquo;Even if a state bar licenses who gets to practice law, you don&rsquo;t need a license to criticize a court ruling. Here, Mats was trying to talk to the media about a legitimate issue of public safety. And you don&rsquo;t need a permission slip from the government to do that.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.jarlstrom.com/redflex/">Jarlstrom v. Beaverton Federal Lawsuit</a> (by Mats J&auml;rlstr&ouml;m)</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/where-is-the-money-going/revenue-opportunity-shortening-yellow-traffic-lights-121123?news=846282">Revenue Opportunity: Shortening Yellow Traffic Lights</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
2017-04-30T13:25:06-07:00859990http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/in-small-louisiana-town-hundreds-routinely-jailed-with-no-evidence-of-crime-beyond-a-hunch-161230?news=859990Unusual NewsIn Small Louisiana Town, Hundreds Routinely Jailed with No Evidence of Crime beyond a “Hunch”<p>
By Erik De La Garza, Courthouse News Service</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
(CN) &ndash; The <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/department-of-justice?detailsDepartmentID=573">Justice Department</a> says police in a small Louisiana town routinely arrested and placed hundreds of residents in jail without probable cause based on a &ldquo;hunch&rdquo; or &ldquo;feeling&rdquo; that they were involved in criminal activity.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The U.S. Justice Department&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt">Civil Rights Division</a> found in a report released last week that the <a href="http://villeplatte.lavns.org/">Ville Platte Police Department</a> and the <a href="http://communitynotification.com/cap_contact.php?office=54401">Evangeline Parish Sheriff&rsquo;s Office</a> used investigative holds to detain a &ldquo;staggering&rdquo; number of citizens who were &ldquo;commonly detained for 72 hours or more without being provided an opportunity to contest their arrest and detention.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The scathing report says both law enforcement agencies strip-searched individuals suspected of committing crimes, placed them in holding cells without beds, toilets, or showers, and denied them communication with family members and loved ones for days at a time.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Instead, they are held and questioned until they either provide information or the law enforcement agency determines that they do not have information related to a crime,&rdquo; the Dec. 19 report concluded.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Police in Ville Platte &ndash; a town with a population of 7,303 &ndash; conducted over 700 arrests and holds between 2012 and 2014 that were &ldquo;not even ostensibly supported by probable cause,&rdquo; according to the Justice Department.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Evangeline sheriff&rsquo;s deputies used the illegal practice more than 200 times in that same time period, the 20-month federal probe found, noting that the number in both departments is likely underreported.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Both EPSO and VPPD detectives acknowledged that they use investigative holds where they lack sufficient evidence to make an arrest, but instead have a &lsquo;hunch&rsquo; or &lsquo;feeling&rsquo; that a person may be involved in criminal activity,&rdquo; the report states.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The government&rsquo;s report blames the unconstitutional investigative holds for coerced confessions and improper criminal convictions.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;When police officers investigate criminal activity, they must do so responsibly and within the boundaries of the law,&rdquo; Vanita Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. &ldquo;The violations we found in Ville Platte and Evangeline Parish demonstrate a disturbing pattern of officers overstepping legal boundaries by placing residents in holding cells for days at a time without probable cause.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Both law enforcement agencies have admitted that the holds are unconstitutional and have taken steps to eliminate their use, according to the report.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;More work remains to be done,&rdquo; the report states. &ldquo;The agencies&rsquo; policies, procedures, training, and data collection and accountability systems must ensure that investigative holds are eliminated permanently.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The Justice Department also says the two police agencies must work &ldquo;to repair community trust.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The Civil Rights Division&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.justice.gov/crt/special-litigation-section">Special Litigation Section</a> has opened 25 investigations into law enforcement agencies. It is enforcing 19 agreements with agencies, including 14 consent decrees and one post-judgment order, according to a news release.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/is-this-the-worst-small-town-police-force-in-the-us?news=844941">Is This the Worst Small-Town Police Force in the U.S.?</a> (by Matt Bewig, AllGov)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/chicago-police-accused-of-making-false-dui-arrests-to-earn-overtime-pay?news=839809">Chicago Police Accused of Making False DUI Arrests to Earn Overtime Pay</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
2016-12-30T12:35:06-08:00859972http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/workplace-deaths-in-2015-hit-6-year-high-161225?news=859972Unusual NewsWorkplace Deaths in 2015 Hit 6-Year High<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<meta content="noindex" name="robots" />
</p>
<p>
By Niraj Chokshi, New York Times</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
More workers died from on-the-clock injuries in 2015 than in any of the six previous years, though the rate of such deaths has been falling, according to data released last week by the federal <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/department-of-labor/bureau-of-labor-statistics?agencyid=7163">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a>.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The <a href="https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfoi1.htm">census of workplace fatalities</a>, first conducted in 1992, provides a detailed view of workplace safety in America and shows the demographic groups and professions most at risk of fatal workplace injury.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Here&rsquo;s a look at some of the key figures from the new report.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
4,836</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
That&rsquo;s the total number of fatal workplace injuries in 2015, the highest since 2008, when such injuries resulted in 5,214 deaths.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
High as the total may seem, the rate of workplace deaths &mdash; as a share of every 100,000 full-time equivalent workers &mdash; fell slightly from 2014 and has fallen relatively steadily since 2006.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
93 percent</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Men accounted for all but 7 percent of the total workplace deaths last year.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
2,054</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
That&rsquo;s the number of transportation-related episodes that resulted in fatalities, accounting for about 42 percent of all workplace deaths.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
As a result, 745 drivers of heavy and tractor-trailer trucks died because of injuries at work last year, more than any other major civilian occupation.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Falls, slips and trips made up the next most common major cause of workplace fatalities, resulting in 800 deaths last year.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
903</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
That&rsquo;s the number of Hispanic or Latino workers who died in 2015, approximately two-thirds of them foreign-born. More Hispanics or Latinos died from workplace injuries in 2015 than in any year since 2007, when the number for the group was 937.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
650</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Workers 65 years and older died at higher rates last year than their peers in any other age group. With 650 deaths for those senior workers, 2015 was the second-worst year for the age group since the data was first collected in 1992. Only last year&rsquo;s total, 684, was larger.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
18 percent</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
That&rsquo;s the decline in the number of workplace suicides from 2014. The homicide rate rose 2 percent. Over the last five years, both declined.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfoi1.htm">Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) - Current and Revised Data</a> (Bureau of Labor Statistics)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/recycling-good-for-the-environment-dangerous-for-workers-150625?news=856806">Recycling: Good for the Environment, Dangerous for Workers</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/fewer-workers-die-on-the-jobexcept-latinos-140916?news=854265">Fewer Workers Die on the Job&hellip;Except Latinos</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff and Steve Straehley, AllGov)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/2400-us-companies-allowed-to-avoid-government-safety-inspections?news=844766">2,400 U.S. Companies Allowed to Avoid Government Safety Inspections</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/13-workers-a-day-die-on-the-jobnot-including-work-related-diseases?news=844440">13 Workers a Day Die on the Job&hellip;Not Including Work-Related Diseases</a> (by Matt Bewig, AllGov)</p>
2016-12-25T14:20:06-08:00859969http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/whats-the-most-annoying-word-in-america-161225?news=859969Unusual NewsWhat’s the Most Annoying Word in America?<p>
By Associated Press</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (AP) &mdash; A poll has found that the most annoying word or phrase used in casual conversation in America is &quot;whatever.&quot;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The <a href="http://maristpoll.marist.edu/">Marist College</a> <a href="http://maristpoll.marist.edu/1221-whatever-most-annoying-word-or-phrase-except-among-young-americans/">poll</a> released Wednesday indicates the word irritates 38 percent of Americans.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The pollsters offered up five options for most annoying word or phrase: &quot;Whatever,&quot; &#39;&#39;No offense, but,&quot; &#39;&#39;Ya know, right,&quot; &#39;&#39;I can&#39;t even&quot; and &quot;huge.&quot;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;No offense, but&quot; is second with 20 percent. In third place is, &quot;You know, right,&quot; which is irksome to 14 percent of people, tied with &quot;I can&#39;t even.&quot; &#39;&#39;Huge&quot; grates on the nerves of 8 percent.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;Whatever&quot; is losing some steam, though. Last year it topped the list at 43 percent.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Age matters. Among Americans under 30, &quot;I can&#39;t even&quot; takes top honors.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The Dec. 1-9 survey of 1,005 adults has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://maristpoll.marist.edu/1221-whatever-most-annoying-word-or-phrase-except-among-young-americans/">&ldquo;Whatever&rdquo; Most Annoying Word or Phrase, Except Among Young Americans</a> (Marist Poll)</p>
2016-12-25T14:10:05-08:00859964http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/gift-from-santa-grazing-reindeer-contribute-to-fight-against-climate-change-161224?news=859964Unusual NewsGift from Santa: Grazing Reindeer Contribute to Fight against Climate Change<p>
By Sean Duffy, Courthouse News Service</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
(CN) &ndash; Guiding Santa&rsquo;s sleigh isn&rsquo;t the only thing Rudolph and his reindeer friends are responsible for: they also play an important role in slowing down global climate change.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
A team of researchers discovered that grazing reindeer reduce the height and abundance of tundra shrubs, which increases the level of surface albedo &ndash; a term referring to the amount of solar energy reflected by Earth back into space. Their <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128/pdf">findings</a> (pdf) were published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Research Letters.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;The effect reindeer grazing can have on albedo and energy balances is potentially large enough to be regionally important,&rdquo; said lead author Mariska te Beest. &ldquo;It also points toward herbivore management being a possible tool to combat future warming.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The team combined land-surface computer modeling with measurements of albedo and vegetation characteristics taken in Reisadalen, Troms, <a href="http://www.allgov.com/nations?nationID=3534">Norway</a> &ndash; an area with four vegetation types that varied in shrub height and volume. A more than 50-year-old fence separated areas with heavy and light grazing by reindeer, serving as a unique experimental setup.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Reindeer activity was estimated through vegetation trampling indicators and feces collection. The researchers also measured the abundance of vegetation, its leaf-area index, soil moisture and temperature levels, as well as albedo levels.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Our modeling results showed this increase in albedo would result in a corresponding decrease in net radiation and latent and sensible heat fluxes &ndash; indicating that heavily grazed sites absorbed less radiation,&rdquo; te Beest said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
She added, &ldquo;Although the estimated differences might appear small, they are large enough to have consequences for the regional energy balance.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128/pdf">Reindeer Grazing Increases Summer Albedo by Reducing Shrub Abundance in Arctic tundra</a> (by Mariska te Beest, Judith Sitters, C&eacute;cile B M&eacute;nard and Johan Olofsson, Environmental Research Letters) (pdf)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/rare-caribou-win-reprieve-against-snowmobilers-150327?news=856074">Rare Caribou Win Reprieve against Snowmobilers</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
2016-12-24T14:10:06-08:00859953http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/judge-clears-way-for-seattle-children-to-air-climate-change-grievances-against-state-in-court-161222?news=859953Unusual NewsJudge Clears Way for Seattle Children to Air Climate Change Grievances against State in Court<p>
By Phuong Le, Associated Press</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
SEATTLE (AP) &mdash; Eight Seattle children should have &quot;their day in court&quot; to argue that Washington state and others aren&#39;t protecting them from climate change, a judge ruled.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
King County Superior Court Judge Hollis Hill on Monday allowed the young petitioners to move ahead in their case against the state, writing that &quot;it is time for these youth to have the opportunity to address their concerns in a court of law, concerns raised under statute and under the state and federal constitutions.&quot;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The petitioners, between 12 and 16 years old, had <a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/8-children-sue-washington-state-claiming-climate-change-neglect-161126?news=859820">asked the judge</a> last month to find the state <a href="http://www.ecy.wa.gov/">Department of Ecology</a> in contempt for failing to adequately protect them and future generations from global warming.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The judge on Monday said Ecology had complied with her orders by adopting the Clean Air Rule within the timeline set by the court, and so denied the youth&#39;s request to find Ecology in contempt.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But the judge allowed the young people to amend their complaint and move ahead with their constitutional claims &quot;so as to have their day in court,&quot; she wrote.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;The Court takes this action due to the emergent need for coordinated science based action by the State of Washington to address climate change before efforts to do so are too costly and too late,&quot; Hill wrote.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The petitioners can now go to court and argue that the state has violated their rights under the state constitution and the legal principle called the public trust doctrine, which requires the government to protect shared resources, said Andrea Rodgers, a <a href="http://www.westernlaw.org/">Western Environmental Law Center</a> attorney representing the youth.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
All of the policies that the state has implemented in response to climate change are not resulting in emissions reductions that comply with state law and science, she said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Ecology spokeswoman Camille St. Onge said the state has adopted one of nation&#39;s most progressive carbon pollution reduction regulations and &quot;will continue to do our part to help slow climate change.&quot;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The case is part of a larger effort led by the Oregon-based nonprofit <a href="https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/">Our Children&#39;s Trust</a> to force governments to take action on climate change.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Last month, a federal judge in Eugene, Oregon, allowed a similar climate change case against President Barack Obama&#39;s administration to proceed. In that lawsuit, 21 activists ages 9 to 20 argue that the federal government&#39;s actions violate their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, and the government has violated its obligation to hold certain natural resources in trust for future generations.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The judge in Seattle noted that the youth argued in their initial petition for a rule limiting greenhouse gas emissions based on the best available science. A rule was adopted but, the judge wrote, Ecology agreed that it isn&#39;t intended to meet the requirements of a state law requiring specific reductions of greenhouse gas emissions over the next decades.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The petitioners say governments must adopt science-based prescriptions that protect the rights of young people and future generations to a stable climate.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The judge said she would retain jurisdiction in the case.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/8-children-sue-washington-state-claiming-climate-change-neglect-161126?news=859820">8 Children Sue Washington State Claiming Climate Change Neglect</a> (by Phuong Le, Associated Press)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/top-energy-firms-and-us-govt-no-match-for-youths-climate-change-lawsuit-round-1-160409?news=858620">Top Energy Firms and U.S. Gov&rsquo;t No Match for Youths&rsquo; Climate Change Lawsuit (Round 1)</a> (by Terence Petty, Associated Press)</p>
2016-12-22T12:35:05-08:00859942http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/chances-of-surviving-a-hospital-stay-are-slightly-higher-under-care-of-a-female-physician-161220?news=859942Unusual NewsChances of Surviving a Hospital Stay are Slightly Higher under Care of a Female Physician<p>
By Lindsey Tanner, AP Medical Writer</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
CHICAGO (AP) &mdash; What if your doctor&#39;s gender could influence your chance of surviving a visit to the hospital?</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
A big <a href="file:///C:/Users/Danny/Downloads/ioi160102.pdf">study</a> (pdf) of older patients hospitalized for common illnesses raises that provocative possibility &mdash; and also lots of questions. Patients who got most of their care from women doctors were more likely to leave the hospital alive than those treated by men.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The differences were small &mdash; about 11 percent of patients treated mostly by women died within 30 days of entering the hospital, versus 11.5 percent of those treated by men. But the all-male research team estimated that there would be about 32,000 fewer deaths each year in the U.S. if male physicians performed at the same level as their female peers.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The study didn&#39;t probe why there might be these differences in survival. And Dr. Ashish Jha, the lead author, said the study doesn&#39;t mean patients should avoid him and all other male physicians.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But he said male doctors could take a cue from women doctors&#39; tendencies that might contribute to better care. According to other research, women doctors are more likely than men to follow treatment guidelines, provide preventive care more often and communicate more with patients.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Jha said that it was important to better understand the reasons behind the differences, and to share that information with all physicians to improve care.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Jha, an internist and Harvard Medical School professor, said he has not spoken to his own patients about the study &mdash; yet.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;As a male physician, I have a stake in this,&quot; Jha said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The study was published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The researchers looked at data involving more than 1.5 million hospitalizations for <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/department-of-health-and-human-services/medicare?agencyid=7399">Medicare</a> patients aged 65 and older between January 2011 and December 2014. Patients&#39; illnesses included pneumonia, heart failure, intestinal bleeding, urinary infections and lung disease.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
All were treated by general internists in the hospital. The researchers compared results in patients who got most or all of their care from women internists with those who got most or all of their care from men.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Most patients survived and were sent home within a month of treatment. But in addition to better survival chances, those treated by women doctors were slightly less likely to be re-admitted to the hospital within that first month.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
On average, women doctors were in charge of fewer patients and some of their patients weren&#39;t as sick as those of male doctors, but the researchers considered those factors and still found a link between doctors&#39; gender and patients&#39; survival differences.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Dr. Lisa Schwartz of the <a href="http://tdi.dartmouth.edu/">Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy &amp; Clinical Practice</a> said the study doesn&#39;t prove whether doctors&#39; sex accounted for the results. &quot;To make a stronger case, you&#39;d need information on doctors&#39; practices in the study,&quot; she said. For example, did women physicians give patients with pneumonia antibiotics sooner than men physicians &mdash; treatment that could potentially improve survival chances, she said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
For example, did women doctors give patients with pneumonia antibiotics sooner &mdash; treatment that could potentially improve survival chances, she said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Dartmouth policy analyst Dr. H. Gilbert Welch called the results &quot;intriguing&quot; but preliminary and &quot;not something for patients to act on.&quot;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Danny/Downloads/ioi160102.pdf">Comparison of Hospital Mortality and Readmission Rates for Medicare Patients Treated by Male vs Female Physicians </a>(by Yusuke Tsugawa, MD, MPH, PhD; Anupam B. Jena, MD, PhD; Jose F. Figueroa, MD, MPH; E. John Orav, PhD; Daniel M. Blumenthal, MD, MBA; Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH, JAMA Internal Medicine) (pdf)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/where-is-the-money-going/increase-in-female-physicians-drives-doctors-political-contributions-to-democrats-140605?news=853329">Increase in Female Physicians Drives Doctors&rsquo; Political Contributions to Democrats</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
2016-12-20T12:35:06-08:00859929http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/whistleblowers-exposure-of-wrongdoing-leads-to-reform-at-culpable-companies-161217?news=859929Unusual NewsWhistleblowers’ Exposure of Wrongdoing Leads to Reform at Culpable Companies<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<meta content="noindex" name="robots" />
</p>
<p>
By Gretchen Morgenson, New York Times</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
For those who doubt that whistleblowers are a force for good in corporate America &mdash; and yes, such skeptics exist &mdash; a new study out of the University of Iowa could not be more important. It demonstrates for the first time that financial shenanigans at companies decrease markedly in the years after truth tellers come forward with information about wrongdoing inside their operations.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Federal and state whistleblower programs that award bounties to individuals providing tips about corporate fraud have grown in recent years. They are increasingly seen as a way to help understaffed regulators enhance their oversight of sprawling and complex corporations.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But the costs to whistleblowers are high; they often face retaliation from their employers and are unable to find work because they are blackballed in their industry. These very real perils underscore the significance of the new research by Jaron H. Wilde, an assistant professor of accounting at the University of Iowa&rsquo;s Tippie College of Business; he found a sharp and lasting drop in financial wrongdoing at companies that were subject to whistleblower investigations.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The incidence of such tips appears to be rocketing. The whistleblower program at the <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/independent-agencies/securities-and-exchange-commission-sec?agencyid=7357">Securities and Exchange Commission</a>, for example, heard from 4,218 tipsters in fiscal 2016, up 40 percent from the number who came forward in 2012.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The SEC has awarded $136 million to 37 whistleblowers since its program&rsquo;s inception in 2011; it says enforcement actions arising out of these tips have resulted in almost $900 million in financial remedies, much of which went to wronged investors.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But whistleblowers&rsquo; impact on corporate practices has been less clear. While academic research on these truth tellers helped to identify past misconduct at companies, it had not done much to determine whether these courageous acts had a deterrent effect at companies.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
So Wilde set out to explore acts of whistleblowing at a large sample of companies to see if they resulted in meaningful improvements in behavior there.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;It occurred to me: What happens after a firm is the target of a whistleblower allegation?&rdquo; Wilde recalled in an interview. &ldquo;Do they become less aggressive in terms of their financial reporting and tax aggressiveness? It&rsquo;s an area I find to be both important from a policy perspective but also interesting in its own right.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The data Wilde analyzed came from open records requests submitted to the <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/department-of-labor/occupational-safety-and-health-administration-osha?agencyid=7167">Occupational Safety and Health Administration</a>, a unit of the <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/department-of-labor?detailsDepartmentID=574">Labor Department</a> that is responsible for adjudicating employee retaliation cases under the Sarbanes-Oxley law. Enacted in 2002, that law was a response to the stunning accounting frauds at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron">Enron,</a> <a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/worldcom.asp">WorldCom</a> and other companies, and it gave new protections to employees providing evidence of fraud at a company by assigning criminal penalties for retaliation against them. Employees filing retaliation claims submit them to OSHA.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The employee retaliation cases studied by Wilde spanned 2003 through 2010; he analyzed matters involving some 317 public companies in the United States.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Armed with the data, Wilde examined changes in each company&rsquo;s financial reporting from a period before the alleged improprieties to afterward. Then he compared the results with corresponding changes among matching control firms.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Following the allegations,&rdquo; the study concluded, &ldquo;whistleblower firms are significantly more likely to experience a decrease in the incidence of accounting irregularities and a decrease in tax aggressiveness, compared with control firms.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Moreover, Wilde found that the decrease lasted for at least two years, reflecting the period for which he had data on all the companies. He said he had not examined whether the behavior change wears off after the two years but said that would be an interesting analysis to make.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In addition to demonstrating the deterrent value of whistleblowing, Wilde&rsquo;s study, which will be published in a forthcoming issue of <em>The Accounting Review</em>, counters previous research that criticized truth tellers. Some studies have questioned whistleblowers&rsquo; motivations in bringing cases, as well as the merits of their complaints, Wilde noted. For example, some researchers have contended that allegations of wrongdoing may be frivolous or driven by employees&rsquo; personal vendettas.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But Wilde&rsquo;s research found that many of the tips were valuable. He determined that they typically involved companies with a significantly higher likelihood of financial misreporting in the period before the individuals came forward. While he acknowledged that some of the cases he studied were inconsequential, he added that there were &ldquo;certainly a number of instances where whistleblowers are providing critical incremental information that allows the government to have a case against a company or an employee.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The study also underscores the notion that insiders are best positioned to monitor companies&rsquo; financial reporting. This has become especially true as corporations have grown larger and more complex, Wilde said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;The organizational complexity of companies is now so high that it makes it difficult for external parties to detect misconduct,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;These individuals coming forward are what allow the government to have a case in many instances.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Wilde acknowledged in the study that his findings might be somewhat skewed because of his inability to determine whether the control companies in his study were actually free of financial irregularities. &ldquo;Some control firms may actually be targets of whistleblowing that I cannot observe,&rdquo; he wrote.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In addition, he noted that his study sample was limited to cases in which employees contended they had been punished for coming forward; researching other whistleblowing cases could generate different results. Finally, he said that his research covered the period before the SEC&rsquo;s whistleblower program was in place.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Still, Wilde&rsquo;s research confirms the crucial roles whistleblowers play not only as powerful monitors in corporate settings but also as agents of change within these companies.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re a regulator, even if you know a company is doing something wrong, where do you look?&rdquo; Wilde said. &ldquo;The whistleblower can pinpoint what&rsquo;s going on and often can bring documentation.&rdquo; If not for whistleblowers, he said, &ldquo;this stuff often goes undetected.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/federal-agency-in-charge-of-protecting-whistleblowers-caught-punishing-in-house-whistleblower-151005?news=857563">Federal Agency In Charge of Protecting Whistleblowers Caught Punishing In-House Whistleblower</a> (by Steve Straehley, AllGov)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/terrorists-spies-whistleblowers-treated-the-same-by-obama-administration-130719?news=850605">Terrorists, Spies, Whistleblowers Treated the Same by Obama Administration</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)&nbsp;</p>
2016-12-17T14:15:06-08:00859928http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/mannequin-wearing-oxygen-mask-rescued-from-locked-car-by-new-york-police-161217?news=859928Unusual NewsMannequin Wearing Oxygen Mask Rescued from Locked Car by New York Police<p>
By Associated Press</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
HUDSON, N.Y. (AP) &mdash; Police in New York broke a car window to rescue a woman who turned out to be an extremely realistic mannequin.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The unusual incident happened Friday morning in the city of Hudson.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The <em>Times Union of Albany</em> reports that a caller told police there was an elderly woman &quot;frozen to death&quot; in a parked car.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Officers rushed to the scene and found what appeared to be a woman sitting in a car&#39;s front passenger seat wearing an oxygen mask.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
A sergeant busted a rear window, opened the door and discovered that the woman was a realistic mannequin.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The car owner arrived and said he uses the dummy for his job selling medical training aids.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The police chief says the owner was &quot;incredulous&quot; that police broke the window to rescue the mannequin.</p>
2016-12-17T14:10:06-08:00859899http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/parents-in-us-view-their-9-hours-per-day-on-tech-devices-as-good-role-modeling-for-their-kids-161211?news=859899Unusual NewsParents in U.S. View their 9 Hours per Day on Tech Devices as Good Role Modeling for Their Kids<p>
By Lynn Elber, AP Television</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Parents spend more than nine hours a day with TVs, computers and other screen devices while also giving themselves high marks as role models for their children&#39;s media use, according to a <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/about-us/news/press-releases/new-report-parents-spend-more-than-nine-hours-a-day-with-screen-media">survey</a> released Tuesday.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Among all those surveyed &mdash; nearly 1,800 parents in the U.S. &mdash; daily screen time averaged nine hours and 22 minutes, with the bulk of that, seven hours and 43 minutes, categorized as personal screen time and the other roughly 90 minutes spent on work.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The study also found they were enthusiastic about technology&#39;s role in their kids&#39; lives but wary of the risks it may hold, including loss of sleep and online oversharing. Researchers from the nonprofit <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/">Common Sense Media</a> group and Northwestern University&#39;s <a href="http://cmhd.northwestern.edu/">Center on Media and Human Development</a> conducted the project.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Two-thirds of those surveyed, 67 percent, said monitoring their children&#39;s devices and social media accounts is more important than allowing them privacy.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Another finding: Latino and black parents expressed more concern about their kids&#39; media use (66 and 65 percent, respectively) than white ones (51 percent). Latinos are more diligent in managing it than other parents, checking devices and social media accounts more often.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
It was the gap between how much adults use media and what that might mean for their offspring that was particularly striking to James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, which helps families and educators assess and use media and technology effectively. The group&#39;s first-ever deep dive on parents&#39; tech habits mirrors its ongoing analysis of those of children and teenagers.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;I found the numbers astounding, the sheer volume of technology used by parents,&quot; Steyer said. &quot;There&#39;s really a big disconnect between their own behavior and their self-perception, as well as their perception of their kids.&quot;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;Yet 78 percent of all parents believe they are good media and technology role models for their children,&quot; according to a survey summary.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The range of activities includes TV or other video viewing; video gaming; social networking or website browsing, and any other task on a computer, smartphone or tablet. Media consumed with a child or another family member along with solo use is included in the personal screen tally, according to Common Sense Media.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Personal media usage by educational level ranges from about nine hours for parents with a high school degree or less to about six hours for those with a bachelor&#39;s degree or higher.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
White parents averaged six hours and 38 minutes on personal media, with Latinos spending about two-and-a-half hours more and African-American parents four hours more.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The top concerns among all parents about potential adverse media effects included the fear that children may become technology addicts (56 percent of parents); that their physical activity will be affected (50 percent) and their face-to-face communication and sleep habits will be hurt (both 34 percent).</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
When it comes to kids&#39; online activities, parents worry about how much time is spent (43 percent), how much personal information is shared (38 percent) and whether youngsters are being exposed to pornography or violent images or videos (both 36 percent).</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But nearly all parents, 94 percent, believe technology is helpful for children&#39;s schoolwork and education, with 89 percent agreeing it will prepare youngsters for 21st-century jobs. About three-quarters of those surveyed said technology increases exposures to other culture and supports kids&#39; expression of their personal beliefs.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
For parents seeking guidance on their family&#39;s media use, Steyer offers these tips:</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&mdash; &quot;No. 1 is role-modeling your own behavior so kids can learn from that. You have to start with the fact that when your kids are around, you have to use media the way you want them to use it,&quot; he said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&mdash; Have times and places set aside that exclude all media devices. Steyer suggests family dinners, an hour or two before bedtime and, of course, never while driving. His group recently launched a #DeviceFreeDinner challenge.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&mdash; Use media with your kids and be engaged. &quot;Learn from them, ask them questions, have an ongoing conversation,&quot; he said, including on topics they may otherwise be uncomfortable addressing, such as sex and drugs.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;Media can give you a lot of teachable moments, if you use it wisely,&quot; Steyer said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/about-us/news/press-releases/new-report-parents-spend-more-than-nine-hours-a-day-with-screen-media">New Report: Parents Spend More Than Nine Hours a Day with Screen Media</a> (Common Sense Media) (abstract)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/media-use-by-american-adults-has-increased-by-one-hour-per-day-160703?news=859092">Media Use by American Adults Has Increased by One Hour per Day</a> (by David Bauder, Associated Press)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/38-percent-of-toddlers-use-mobile-devices-by-the-time-they-turn-2-131030?news=851521">38% of Toddlers Use Mobile Devices by the Time They Turn 2</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
2016-12-11T14:15:05-08:00859891http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/fake-us-embassy-operated-for-10-years-in-ghana-161210?news=859891Unusual NewsFake U.S. Embassy Operated for 10 Years in Ghana<p>
By Francis Kokutse, Associated Press</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
ACCRA, Ghana (AP) &mdash; A fake U.S. embassy that operated for &quot;about a decade&quot; in Ghana&#39;s capital issuing counterfeit and fraudulently obtained visas has been shut down, the <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/department-of-state?detailsDepartmentID=575">U.S. State Departmen</a>t announced.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The scam was orchestrated by &quot;Ghanaian and Turkish organized crime rings&quot; and a Ghanaian attorney, a statement said. Several suspects have been arrested, though others remain at large.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Raids led to the recovery of 150 passports from 10 countries and visas from the U.S., <a href="http://www.allgov.com/nations?nationID=3476">India</a>, South Africa and the European Schengen zone.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said no one was able to enter the United States illegally using a counterfeit visa obtained at the fake embassy.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;This was a criminal, fraud operation masquerading as a fake U.S. embassy,&quot; he told reporters.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
It was not clear how many people were defrauded by the fake embassy, which charged $6,000 for its services.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Those running the operation were able to bribe corrupt officials &quot;to look the other way,&quot; the State Department said. Ghanaian officials said Monday they were still collecting information and were not prepared to comment.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;This is a shocker,&quot; said one Ghanaian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists about the case.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Toner said the fraudsters obtained Ghanaian and other passports with expired U.S. visas that were either lost or stolen. Using them as a prototype, they then produced counterfeit visas.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But, as Toner stressed, &quot;It&#39;s very, very hard to counterfeit U.S. visas these days,&quot; including numerous security features such as biometric information to prevent fakes from being used.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
To the best of the State Department&#39;s knowledge, he said, no one had even been caught at the U.S. border attempting to enter the country with such a document.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;Frankly, the counterfeit visas were pretty poor quality,&quot; he said, claiming that people who obtained them must have realized they weren&#39;t going to be able to use them to get into the U.S.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The State Department learned of the fraud operation earlier this year, he said. Ghana acted on information that the U.S. provided.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Those involved in the scheme would drive &quot;to the most remote parts of West Africa&quot; to find visa applicants and transport them to Accra, the State Department said. They also used fliers and billboards to lure victims from Ghana, Ivory Coast and <a href="http://www.allgov.com/nations?nationID=3569">Togo</a>.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Victims would be taken for appointments at the fake embassy, which featured an American flag and photo of President Barack Obama. The fake consular officers were Turkish.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The scheme also used satellite locations including a dress shop. An industrial sewing machine is suspected to have been used to bind fake passports.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>Associated Press writers Bradley Klapper in Washington and Robbie Corey-Boulet in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, contributed to this report.</em></p>
2016-12-10T14:10:06-08:00859886http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/direct-link-seen-between-crime-rate-and-interest-rates-in-us-161209?news=859886Unusual NewsDirect Link Seen Between Crime Rate and Interest Rates in U.S.<p>
By James Austin and Gregory D. Squires, Crime Report</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Crimes rates have plummeted in the U.S. since the mid-1990s.&nbsp; Most of the credit for this remarkable trend has been given to an enlarged criminal justice system&mdash;largely more police, tougher sentencing and a massive prison complex.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But we have found a larger and much more powerful explanation:&nbsp; A drop in interest rates and, in particular, long-term interest rates.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
When interest rates go up, crime goes up.&nbsp; When interest rates go down, crime goes down.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
This has been the case in the U.S. at least since 1953.&nbsp; And it is almost a perfect correlation (.77, with 1.00 being a perfect correlation).</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Today, both crime rates and interest rates are at historic lows. Conversely, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, both reached historic highs. Rarely does social science research yield such a high statistical association and strong relationship between two phenomena, particularly when they are not intuitively related.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
What accounts for this startling finding?&nbsp; What does it mean?&nbsp; And how might it inform public policy?</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
One critical implication is that lower interest rates mean not just lower crime rates, but also greater economic prosperity.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Nobody would suggest that high interest rates directly cause crime.&nbsp; But there is a wealth of evidence on the causes of crime that demystifies this seemingly baffling relationship.&nbsp; The key word is &ldquo;stress&rdquo;&mdash;both on an individual and societal level.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Criminologists have long known that when individuals find themselves in difficult circumstances they are more tempted to resort to unlawful activities than when their lives are more routine and stable.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
And when communities face financial stress, crime rates are more likely to rise.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
When interest rates rise, it is more difficult for businesses to borrow the money they need to expand their operations and, consequently, the number of jobs they can create.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
High interest rates can dampen economic activity generally, which reduces consumer spending and, in turn, business receipts.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
On the individual level, borrowing money becomes more expensive, credit card purchases are more difficult to repay, and daily life becomes more difficult.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The result is often not simply a reduction in job growth&mdash;but cutbacks. Employers have to let workers go, thereby increasing unemployment rates and fueling the severe stress associated with job loss.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Job loss or the expectation of a long spell of unemployment can lead some people to abuse drugs and alcohol, commit theft, burglary, robbery or worse.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Social scientists from various disciplines have long reported that when unemployment rates rise in a community a host of social problems are exacerbated.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Suicide rates, alcoholism, divorce, domestic violence, and other forms of criminal activity are just some of the increasing social costs confronting communities with high unemployment rates and other measures of economic stress.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In <em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Social-Stress-United-States-Regional/dp/0865691495">Social Stress in the United States</a></em>, criminologists Arnold Linsky and Murray Strauss found in the 1980s that states with higher homicide and suicide rates had higher levels of social stress, as measured by such factors as business failures, personal bankruptcies, and unemployment claims.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<a href="http://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/criminal-justice/unemployment-property-crime-burglary">Pooja Gupta reviewed</a> the scholarly literature on the effects of unemployment, joblessness, and underemployment earlier this year, and found that such job-related problems contributed to higher crime rates, health problems and other quality-of-life challenges.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Interest rates also directly affect the cost of housing and particularly the opportunities for home ownership.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
When interest rates rise, it is more difficult to obtain a mortgage.&nbsp; Developers seek higher rents to cover the costs of the homes they are building, or projects have to be cut back. Reductions in supply increase the costs.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Thus, when interest rates rise, so do housing costs for both owners and renters.&nbsp; This places even more stress on families who are already paying more than they should for housing.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
According to the <a href="http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/">Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard</a>, households paying more than 30 percent of their income for housing are considered cost-burdened.&nbsp; In its <a href="http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/research/state_nations_housing">2016 State of the Nation&rsquo;s Housing report</a>, the Joint Center noted that 18.5 million homeowners and 21.3 million renters were cost-burdened in 2014.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Employment and housing are the two most critical markets that determine the cost of living for most families, but rising interest rates leading to higher prices for virtually all goods and services contribute to the stress of millions of households.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Considering the evidence on how long-term interest rates are related to crime rates (and other social problems), the future is mixed.&nbsp;&nbsp; On one hand, <a href="http://www.theglobaleconomy.com/compare-countries/">the current economic trend is for interest rates to increase very slowly if at all</a>.&nbsp; The European markets suggest no long-term increases and the Asian markets led by China are quickly stabilizing.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Should these trends continue, it would suggest that crime rates will continue to remain at historically low numbers.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
On the other hand, there is evidence that interest rates in the U.S. are starting to rise&mdash; and may accelerate if the national debt expands quickly under the new administration.&nbsp; Certainly, the consequences of cutting taxes without an associated increase in economic growth will also raise crime rates.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The influence of interest rates actors on crime rates, along with the impact of crime on the economy, should wean policymakers off their addiction to imprisonment as the most effective means for maintaining public safety.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Unlike the relationship between interest rates and crime, the relationship between imprisonment and crime rates for the same time period (1953-2014) is much smaller (a correlation of only .15).</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Further, the imprisonment trend consistently lags behind the increasing crime rate from 1965 to 1993 and the declining rate thereafter.&nbsp; This is consistent with other studies that have shown little impact of increased incarceration on crime rates. In fact, incarceration often leads to increasing crime rates.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Linsky and Strauss, Todd Clear, and other criminologists have found high incarceration rates serve to destabilize communities by removing fathers, workers, and other contributing citizens who have committed minor violations like recreational use of marijuana from those communities, causing crime rates to rise.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Crime rates are linked to social and economic pressures and structures.&nbsp; That is, they reflect and reinforce various social phenomena that are not subject simply to the choices that individuals make.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
If we want those who are engaged in criminal activities to make other decisions, we need to create less stressful environments that are conducive to different decisions.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Access to well-paying jobs, decent and affordable housing, adequate education, public transportation, healthy food, guaranteed health care, smaller and planned families are all factors that reduce stress.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Interest rates constitute one of the best predictors of crime rates.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
We should recognize that lower interest rates nurture a more stable and less stressful society, one that suppresses crime, violence, suicides, drug addiction and other social ills in part because of the greater economic prosperity that is generated.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
We have tried mass incarceration. Perhaps it is time to pursue a path that is less stressful.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>James Austin is a criminologist and President of the </em><a href="http://www.jfa-associates.com/"><em>JFA Institute</em></a><em>. Gregory D. Squires is a professor of sociology at the George Washington University.</em></p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://thecrimereport.org/2016/12/06/the-startling-link-between-low-interest-rates-and-low-crime/">The &lsquo;Startling&rsquo; Link between Low Interest Rates and Low Crime</a> (by James Austin and Gregory D. Squires, Crime Report)</p>
2016-12-09T12:40:06-08:00859850http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/federal-ethics-office-heaps-praise-upon-trump-for-agreeing-to-divest-assets-when-he-didnt-161202?news=859850Unusual NewsFederal Ethics Office Heaps Praise upon Trump for Agreeing to Divest Assets When He Didn’t<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<meta content="noindex" name="robots" />
</p>
<p>
By Michael D. Shear and Eric Lipton, New York Times</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
WASHINGTON &mdash; The <a href="http://www.allgov.com/departments/independent-agencies/office-of-government-ethics-oge?agencyid=7329">Office of Government Ethics</a> has informed lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump that only a divestiture of his financial stake in his sprawling real estate business will resolve ethical concerns about conflicts of interest as he assumes the office of the presidency.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The revelation from the normally secretive federal agency came Wednesday in a bizarre series of oddly informal postings on its Twitter account after officials apparently concluded, erroneously, that Trump had committed on his own Twitter account to divesting his assets.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;As we discussed with your counsel, divestiture is the way to resolve these conflicts,&rdquo; the office wrote on Twitter, revealing legal advice that would normally be confidential and adding in a separate post: &ldquo;Bravo! Only way to resolve these conflicts of interest is to divest. Good call!&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In fact, Trump had made no such commitment, at least publicly.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In a series of early-morning posts on Twitter, Trump said he would separate himself from the operations of his vast global business empire.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Trump provided few details in his posts and did not say whether he would divest his assets. But he promised to hold a &ldquo;major news conference&rdquo; with his adult children in two weeks to reveal legal documents that would remove him from what he called the &ldquo;business operations&rdquo; of his company. He vowed to leave the <a href="http://www.trump.com/">Trump Organization</a> &ldquo;in total&rdquo; to focus on running the country.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But his vague promise to &ldquo;in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses&rdquo; drew an immediate rebuke from legal and ethics experts in Washington, who said that a close reading of the actual words in the posts suggested that Trump was not planning to take sufficient steps to eliminate conflicts.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The emphasis on &ldquo;business operations,&rdquo; not on ownership, hinted that Trump was not ruling out retaining a financial stake in the Trump Organization or putting his children in control. Ethics experts said such moves would leave Trump vulnerable to accusations that his official actions were motivated by personal financial interests.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Although it is of course important that he have no involvement in Trump business operations, in order to avoid conflicts he must also exit the ownership of his businesses through using a blind trust or equivalent,&rdquo; Norman L. Eisen, who was a White House ethics lawyer in the Obama administration, and Richard W. Painter, an ethics lawyer in the Bush administration, said in a joint statement to <em>The New York Times</em>.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Noah Bookbinder, executive director of <a href="http://www.citizensforethics.org/">Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics</a> in Washington, a liberal nonprofit group that promotes ethics in government, said: &ldquo;Unless his solution is to sell the business outside the family and put the proceeds in a blind trust, he&rsquo;s not really doing anything to solve the problem. Just because you say something on Twitter doesn&rsquo;t make it so.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Every president in the past four decades, Eisen and Painter noted, has taken personal holdings he had before being elected and put them into a blind trust in which the assets were controlled by an independent party.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
If Trump were willing to sell his assets, one option would be to seek a certificate of divestiture from the Office of Government Ethics, which would allow him to sell his real estate holdings and other businesses with an enormous tax advantage.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
This system was set up to allow wealthy Americans to take jobs in the government and avoid conflicts of interest without a large financial effect. It allows incoming government officials to defer paying capital gains taxes on any earnings on the investment. This could generate an enormous windfall for Trump, given his vast real estate holdings.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
After Henry Paulson was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as Treasury secretary, he left a job at Goldman Sachs and took advantage of this provision, avoiding conflicts of interest by selling an estimated $500 million in Goldman stock.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Money generated from the liquidation of Trump&rsquo;s assets would have to be invested in &ldquo;permitted property,&rdquo; which is limited to Treasury bonds or diversified mutual funds, ending the real estate ventures that are so tied to the Trump family&rsquo;s identity.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Still, that is what the Office of Government Ethics has said he should do.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The office is normally a staid agency that rarely talks to reporters on the record, but Wednesday&rsquo;s Twitter posts were oddly enthusiastic. The series of nine posts suggested that officials were celebrating what they thought was a decision by Trump to accept their legal advice.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In their posts, officials at the ethics agency referred to a 1983 legal opinion in which the office urged presidents to &ldquo;conduct themselves as if they were&rdquo; bound by conflict of interest laws, even though such laws do not apply to occupants of the Oval Office.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In a statement, Seth Jaffe, an agency spokesman, said that officials there were &ldquo;excited&rdquo; by Trump&rsquo;s announcements on conflicts of interest and that the messages were not based on any information about the president-elect&rsquo;s plans beyond what was shared on his Twitter feed.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Asked later about the disclosure of the advice that the Office of Government Ethics had given to Trump&rsquo;s lawyers, Jaffe said he could not provide additional comment. But the agency has left the posts on its official government account.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Officials for Trump&rsquo;s campaign and the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment about the disclosures from the agency. And Reince Priebus, who will be the White House chief of staff, said on the MSNBC program &ldquo;Morning Joe&rdquo; that he was not ready to provide any more information about the legal discussions.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;You should know that he&rsquo;s got the best people in the world working on it,&rdquo; Priebus said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In fact, the president-elect&rsquo;s plan to deal with conflicts remains unclear. Simply removing Trump from day-to-day control of business decisions could still allow him to benefit financially from payments made to his companies by foreign governments, which may be prohibited by the so-called <a href="https://ofacp.od.nih.gov/ethics/pdfs/emolclause.pdf">Emoluments Clause</a> (pdf) of the Constitution, Eisen said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
And Trump&rsquo;s Twitter posts said nothing about whether his children, who serve as advisers on his presidential transition committee, would continue to have roles in his administration.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
If Trump&rsquo;s business is run by his children, they must be entirely separated from government operations, Eisen and Painter said. That means they could not participate in meetings with world leaders, like the prime minister of <a href="http://www.allgov.com/nations?nationID=3490">Japan</a>, as Ivanka Trump did last month.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Without an ethics firewall that is set up at once and continues into the administration, scandal is sure to follow,&rdquo; Eisen and Painter said in their statement.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Democrats on Capitol Hill immediately questioned on Wednesday whether Trump&rsquo;s Twitter posts indicated a significant change in his plans and called for a formal investigation by the House Judiciary Committee.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
A letter sent by Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, and signed by 15 other Democrats on the committee, said Trump&rsquo;s posts raised &ldquo;a number of questions,&rdquo; including whether Trump intends to transfer ownership of his assets.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
On Wednesday, Trump emphasized the appearances he would need to maintain as president, saying he believed it was &ldquo;visually important&rdquo; to avoid conflicts between his government role and his businesses.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Trump insisted, as he has before, that he is not legally required to take any steps to divest himself of his financial ties. In an interview with <em>The Times</em> last week, he said, &ldquo;The law is totally on my side, meaning the president can&rsquo;t have a conflict of interest.&rdquo; He also said in the interview, &ldquo;I would like to try and formalize something, because I don&rsquo;t care about my business.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Divesting could be costly and complicated.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a very hard thing to do, you know what, because I have real estate. I have real estate all over the world,&rdquo; he said in the interview. &ldquo;Selling real estate isn&rsquo;t like selling stock. Selling real estate is much different. It&rsquo;s in a much different world.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/constitutional-violations-of-trumps-foreign-business-dealings-may-never-be-known-due-to-limited-disclosure-rules-161201?news=859849">Constitutional Violations of Trump&rsquo;s Foreign Business Dealings May Never Be Known Due to Limited Disclosure Rules</a> (by Derek Kravitz, ProPublica)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/we-may-not-know-if-trumps-foreign-business-deals-violate-the-constitution">We May Not Know If Trump&rsquo;s Foreign Business Deals Violate the Constitution</a> (by Derek Kravitz, ProPublica)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/5-trump-business-ties-that-pose-conflicts-for-the-president-elect-161128?news=859833">5 Trump Business Ties that Pose Conflicts for the President-Elect</a> (by Bernard Condon, Associated Press)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/with-no-ethics-rules-binding-us-presidents-trump-business-ventures-put-conflicts-of-interest-at-high-risk-161119?news=859790">With No Ethics Rules Binding U.S. Presidents, Trump Business Ventures Put Conflicts of Interest at High Risk</a> (by Bernard Condon, Associated Press)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/aclu-gears-up-to-fight-in-court-anticipated-unconstitutional-acts-by-a-president-trump-160718?news=859171">ACLU Gears Up to Fight in Court Anticipated &ldquo;Unconstitutional Acts&rdquo; by a President Trump</a> (by Bianca Bruno, Courthouse News Service)</p>
2016-12-02T12:35:06-08:00859829http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/decline-in-us-dementia-rate-expected-to-reverse-with-rising-number-of-older-americans-161128?news=859829Unusual NewsDecline in U.S. Dementia Rate Expected to Reverse with Rising Number of Older Americans<p>
By Lindsey Tanner, AP Medical Writer</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
CHICAGO (AP) &mdash; New research documents another decline in dementia rates but experts say the rising numbers of older Americans may halt that trend unless better ways are found to keep brains healthy.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The <a href="http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2587084">study</a> released Monday shows the rate of Alzheimer&#39;s disease and other dementias in adults aged 65 and up dropped to about 9 percent in 2012 from nearly 12 percent in 2000, continuing a decline noted in earlier research.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Older adults with the most schooling had the lowest dementia rates, and the average education level increased during the study years.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Alzheimer&#39;s is the most common form of dementia, which can also be caused by strokes, Parkinson&#39;s disease and other conditions.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Led by University of Michigan researchers, the study was published in <em>JAMA Internal Medicine</em>. The <a href="https://www.nia.nih.gov/">National Institute on Aging</a> paid for the research.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
THE STUDY</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Researchers analyzed nationally representative government surveys of about 10,500 older adults in both years, including some living in nursing homes. They were interviewed and given mental tests by phone or in person; spouses or relatives responded for those impaired by dementia or other illness.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The dementia rate declined amid a rise in diabetes and heart disease. Both increase risks for Alzheimer&#39;s and other dementias but the researchers say better treatment for both diseases may explain the results.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Obesity rates also increased, while dementia was most common among underweight adults. Previous research has shown weight loss may precede dementia by several years and that late-life obesity may be healthier than being underweight. But a journal editorial says more research is needed to determine whether excess pounds in older age somehow protect the brain.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
AGING NUMBERS</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Dementia was most common in the oldest adults; in 2012 almost 30 percent of adults aged 85 and up were afflicted versus just 3 percent of those 65-74.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The number of adults aged 85 and older is rapidly rising and expected to triple by mid-century. John Haaga, director of the National Institute on Aging&#39;s behavior and social research division, said dementia rates would have to decline much more sharply than they have to counteract that trend.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The <a href="http://www.alz.org/">Alzheimer&#39;s Association</a> estimates that about 5 million people aged 65 and older have Alzheimer&#39;s, and that is expected to rise to almost 14 million by 2050.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
EDUCATION&#39;S ROLE</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The average education level climbed during the study. About 45 percent of older adults had at least 13 years of education in 2012, versus about 33 percent in 2000.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Previous studies have found less dementia in highly educated people, but it isn&#39;t known whether education somehow protects the brain from dementia or if it helps people compensate for brain changes linked with Alzheimer&#39;s or other dementias.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Studies on brain-training exercises have had conflicting results.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
BOTTOM LINE</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Haaga said more research is needed to explain the education-dementia link and to explore potential treatments that mimic the effects of education to stave off dementia.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Meantime, experts say there are ways to help keep your brain healthy. That includes avoiding smoking, eating healthy foods and getting plenty of exercise. Experts also advise staying mentally active &mdash; take a class, learn a new skill or hobby.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&quot;There is reason to hope that you&#39;re not doomed if you didn&#39;t get massive education early in life,&quot; Haaga said.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2587084">A Comparison of the Prevalence of Dementia in the United States in 2000 and 2012</a> (by Kenneth M. Langa, MD, PhD; Eric B. Larson, MD, MPH; Eileen M. Crimmins, PhD; et al; JAMA Internal Medicine)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/chemicals-in-environment-may-be-cause-of-silent-dementia-epidemic-150808?news=857151">Chemicals in Environment May be Cause of Silent Dementia Epidemic</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/loneliness-and-too-much-tv-are-bad-for-the-brains-of-the-elderly-150728?news=857066">Loneliness and Too Much TV are Bad for the Brains of the Elderly</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff and Danny Biederman, AllGov)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/where-is-the-money-going/americas-most-expensive-disease-dementia-130406?news=849659">America&rsquo;s Most Expensive Disease: Dementia</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/eli-lilly-pushed-useless-drug-for-dementia?news=839025">Eli Lilly Pushed Useless Drug for Dementia</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)</p>
2016-11-28T12:35:06-08:00859822http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/confusing-language-in-ballot-measure-blamed-for-colorado-voters-approval-of-slavery-in-state-constitution-161126?news=859822Unusual NewsConfusing Language in Ballot Measure Blamed for Colorado Voters’ Approval of Slavery in State Constitution<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<meta content="noindex" name="robots" />
</p>
<p>
By Daniel Victor, New York Times</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Surely, even in these fractured times, just about everyone could agree on an anti-slavery measure (pdf).</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Right?</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Lawmakers in Colorado unanimously agreed to put a question onto the Nov. 8 ballot, asking if voters would like to remove an archaic reference to slavery in the state&rsquo;s constitution that allows it as a punishment for crime.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
There was virtually no public opposition or campaign against the <a href="http://www.leg.state.co.us/LCS/Initiative%20Referendum/1516initrefr.nsf/b74b3fc5d676cdc987257ad8005bce6a/5b952eebc473f09087257fae00790648/$FILE/AmendmentTFinalMergedDocument.pdf">amendment</a>, which was supported by Republicans and Democrats. Newspapers editorialized in favor, and activists considered it a slam dunk.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
What could go wrong?</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
As it turns out, plenty.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
As of Thursday afternoon, votes were still being counted &mdash; but the effort looked as if it was doomed to defeat, with the &ldquo;no&rdquo; votes leading the &ldquo;yes&rdquo; votes by more than 35,000 with almost 2.4 million votes cast. A recount is possible.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Was it a hidden racist vote? Could more than 1 million people in Colorado really be in favor of keeping a slavery loophole?</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Activists and lawmakers bewildered by the defeat say the answer may be much more simple: Voters say they were disoriented by a mouthful of a ballot question, leaving them unsure what &ldquo;yes&rdquo; and &ldquo;no&rdquo; actually meant.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The tongue-tying question read: &ldquo;Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado Constitution concerning the removal of the exception to the prohibition of slavery and involuntary servitude when used as a punishment for persons duly convicted of a crime?&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;I think people were confused by the language,&rdquo; said Rep. Joe Salazar, a Democrat who sponsored the bipartisan legislation to put the question on the ballot. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think this was a pushback at all by individuals saying they wanted slavery in the constitution. I just think the language was too confusing.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The punishment exception was referring to prison labor when it was written in 1876, but constitutional law experts say it is now unnecessary because of current labor practices.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;Many people thought, &lsquo;If I vote yes, I&rsquo;m voting to put this language in the constitution,&rsquo; because it seemed inconceivable that it was already there,&rdquo; said Melissa Hart, a professor at the University of Colorado Law School.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Even well-educated lawyers Hart spoke with were surprised to learn that not only was the language in the state&rsquo;s constitution, but it also remains in the <a href="http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/13thamendment.html">13th Amendment</a> of the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery when it was ratified in 1865. It states: &ldquo;Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The language goes back even further &mdash; to when the U.S. territory was expanding. Both the <a href="https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=8">Northwest Ordinance</a> in 1787 and the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Missouri.html">Missouri Compromise</a> in 1820 prohibited slavery but carved out the same exception for criminal punishment.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
At the time, labor camps in prisons were common as a way to rehabilitate criminals, Hart said. Since the prisoners were working without payment, it was considered a form of indentured servitude.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
But in the current day, the idea that there could be any situations in which slavery would be allowed did not sit well with activists.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
&ldquo;It just shouldn&rsquo;t be a Colorado value,&rdquo; said William Dickerson, a community activist with <a href="http://www.togethercolorado.org/">Together Colorado</a>, a faith-based organization that led the campaign to remove the language. &ldquo;It shouldn&rsquo;t be in the bedrock of our founding document, both on the state level and on the national level.&rdquo;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Activists said the effort might also have been hurt by a state voter guide that was mailed to every registered voter, which was required to list arguments for and against the amendment. It said the change could &ldquo;result in legal uncertainty around current offender work practices in the state.&rdquo;</p>
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That was a &ldquo;paper-tiger argument&rdquo; that was concocted to meet the legal standard for having an argument against it, but few people were genuinely concerned, Salazar said. Nonetheless, some voters could have been persuaded by it, he said.</p>
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The voter guide also said that 25 states did not have language related to slavery in their constitutions, and that those states had had no issues with their prison work and community service programs. &ldquo;Removing the language reflects fundamental values of freedom and equality, and makes an important symbolic statement,&rdquo; it said.</p>
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Though stunned by the apparent defeat, those supporting the change are vowing to get the question on a ballot again &mdash; next time, with simpler language.</p>
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&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to do it again,&rdquo; Salazar said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to make sure we finally rid the constitution of that language.&rdquo;</p>
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&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.leg.state.co.us/LCS/Initiative%20Referendum/1516initrefr.nsf/b74b3fc5d676cdc987257ad8005bce6a/5b952eebc473f09087257fae00790648/$FILE/AmendmentTFinalMergedDocument.pdf">Amendment T: No Exception to Involuntary Servitude Prohibition</a> (Ballot Measure, Colorado Legislature) (pdf)</p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/mississippi-finally-officially-ratifies-anti-slavery-amendment-130220?news=847121">Mississippi Finally Officially Ratifies Anti-Slavery Amendment</a> (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)</p>
2016-11-26T14:20:06-08:00859820http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/8-children-sue-washington-state-claiming-climate-change-neglect-161126?news=859820Unusual News8 Children Sue Washington State Claiming Climate Change Neglect<p>
By Phuong Le, Associated Press</p>
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SEATTLE (AP) &mdash; Eight children asked a judge to find Washington in contempt for failing to adequately protect them and future generations from the harmful effects of climate change, part of a nationwide effort by young people to try to force action on global warming.</p>
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The petitioners, between 12 and 16 years old, asked a state judge Tuesday to step in and require the state <a href="http://www.ecy.wa.gov/">Department of Ecology</a> to come up with science-based numeric emissions reductions.</p>
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The state argued that it has complied with the court&#39;s prior orders and there&#39;s no basis for finding the Department of Ecology in contempt.</p>
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After hearing arguments Tuesday afternoon, King County Superior Court Judge Hollis Hill said she needed more time and would rule at a later date.</p>
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The case is part of a nationwide effort led by the Oregon-based nonprofit Our Children&#39;s Trust to force states and the federal government to take action on climate change.</p>
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This month, a federal judge in Eugene, Oregon, allowed a similar climate change case against President Barack Obama&#39;s administration to proceed. In that lawsuit, 21 activists ages 9 to 20 argue that the federal government&#39;s actions violate their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, and the government has violated its obligation to hold certain natural resources in trust for future generations.</p>
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Aji Piper, 16, of Seattle is a plaintiff in both the federal and Seattle cases. He said he and others are fighting for their right to live in a world that is healthy, safe and sustainable.</p>
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&quot;The most concerning thing to me is that our planet will be destroyed and I would have done nothing about it,&quot; he said outside court. &quot;We&#39;re bringing this case because we need to have a stronger voice and right now that&#39;s through the legal system.&quot;</p>
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Piper and seven others in Seattle brought their petition in 2014 asking the court to force state officials to adopt new rules to limit carbon emissions based on the best available science.</p>
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&quot;Ecology has the legal authority and responsibility to remedy the ongoing legal violations of these young people&#39;s fundamental rights,&quot; Andrea Rodgers, the children&#39;s attorney, told the judge Tuesday.</p>
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&nbsp;</p>
<p>
In November, Hill denied their appeal but affirmed some of the children&#39;s arguments, saying the state has an obligation to protect natural resources for future generations. At the time, the judge noted that the Department of Ecology was already working on meeting that obligation by writing new rules for greenhouse gas emissions ordered by the governor.</p>
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&nbsp;</p>
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The plaintiffs again asked the judge to step in after the Department of Ecology in February withdrew its proposed clean air rule to make changes. The department was in the process of writing new rules but Hill in April ordered the agency to proceed with its rulemaking and come up with a rule by the end of 2016.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The Seattle children contend the clean air rule the state adopted in September &mdash; which caps emissions from the state&#39;s largest carbon polluters &mdash; doesn&#39;t do enough to protect young people, and that the state is violating prior court orders by not doing more.</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
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Assistant Attorney General Kay Shirey said in court Tuesday that the department complied with court orders by adopting its clean air rule requiring power plants, refineries and others large polluters to reduce emissions by an average 1.7 percent each year.</p>
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She argued that the petitioners&#39; claims amount to a challenge of the department&#39;s clean air rule, which should be heard in Thurston County Superior Court.</p>
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&nbsp;</p>
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She also noted in court filings that the court didn&#39;t direct the department to adopt any particular rule, nor did the court say what should or should not be in the rule.</p>
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The case is not about the clean air rule, Rodgers said, but about whether the state has fulfilled its constitutional and statutory duties to protect the fundamental rights of young people from the perils of climate change.</p>
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<p>
&quot;This is the world I&#39;m going to have to grow up in,&quot; said Gabe Mandell, 14, of Seattle, before the hearing. &quot;Ecology has a mandate to protect our future and they&#39;re not doing it. They&#39;re not doing their job and they&#39;re not doing what the judge ordered.&quot;</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<em>To Learn More:</em></p>
<p style="margin-left:.5in;">
<a href="http://www.allgov.com/news/unusual-news/top-energy-firms-and-us-govt-no-match-for-youths-climate-change-lawsuit-round-1-160409?news=858620">Top Energy Firms and U.S. Gov&rsquo;t No Match for Youths&rsquo; Climate Change Lawsuit (Round 1)</a> (by Terence Petty, Associated Press)</p>
2016-11-26T14:10:05-08:00